Contraband

Contraband is a typical January release. Which is to say, it's a movie - and that's about it. It meets all the qualifications necessary to be a movie, and does absolutely nothing interesting along the way.

Contraband
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Kate Beckinsale, Giovanni Ribisi

The Grey

The Grey is a hell of a way to kick off 2012. It's part horror film and part survival flick, with all of the Liam Neeson badassery you've come to expect from his on-screen personas over the past few years. Joe Carnahan (Neeson's director on the under-appreciated 2010 film, The A-Team) shows he's a filmmaker capable of far more than gritty crime dramas - this is one of the best survival films I've ever seen. I will warn you, though - if you're going to see the movie exclusively for the wolf-boxing scene shown in the trailer, there's a chance you'll be a bit disappointed. But to be completely honest, that was the sole reason I was interested in this movie, and it didn't take long for me to realize that The Grey has much more to offer than one gimmicky sequence.

The Grey
Co-writer/Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dermot Mulroney

The NJNM Podcast: Ep. 72 - Lethal Weapon

In this week's episode, Ben and Tyler discuss Richard Donner's 1987 film, Lethal Weapon.

Introduction

Podcast Shoutouts - 1:26
Character Name Game Intro (and conclusion!) - 5:25

Media Consumed

Tyler

BBC show "Merlin" - 8:37
The Green Hornet - 9:58
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 12:40
Chocolate - 15:31

Ben

LOTR reviews - 18:32
The Departed - 19:29
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - 24:31

Review

Lethal Weapon - 29:20

Wrap-Up

Next Time: The Towering Inferno - 1:05:19

Listener E-mail/Voicemail/Twitter - 1:06:35

Where You Can Find Us - 1:12:25


Media Mentioned: LOTR Reviews - Fellowship, Towers, King; F/X and F/X 2 episode of NJNM Podcast; Excalibur episode of NJNM Podcast, Trancers and Dollman episode of NJNM Podcast

Ben's Favorite Films of 2011

As with every other Top Ten list you've read (or may read), I'll begin with some parameters: the films included here are ones that received a theatrical release in the calendar year of 2011. There were some I didn't see that are ending up on other people's lists - The Descendants, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, We Bought A Zoo - and some that I did see that were very close to making this list - Like Crazy, Being Elmo, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, and Hugo to name a few. But agree or disagree, prepare to let loose in the comments: here are my favorite films of 2011.